Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

Good job runwild. You will still need to go out for the OTR (4-6week) training, but you get paid for it so thats nice. There is really no advantage at central for having any endorsements. I may even suggest not getting your Hazmat. If you have it and they know you do they may try to give you some hazmat loads, which require more work and risk from DOT, and you get zero more pay. One thing I would suggest you getting is your TWICA (I think thats right) card so you can go into the ports. These loads are easy and if Central does not need to pay an esccort $100 to drive you 200 yards to the dock and back, they will send you in more offten. At least I thought they were simple loads and fun to watch everything coming off the ships.

 

Lol, point definitely taken. I do try to make my posts easy to read, but sometimes it comes out a blob.

 

Good point Moose, will check into that and maybe skip the endorsements for now. I understand the 4-6 weeks training, and I am totally fine with that. A weeks worth of driving in the evenings around my town is definitely NOT enough training and I am looking forward to learning more while out on the road. But, we have a few corners that are fun and tricky with a 38' fifth wheel and I was told these would be great practice for cornering.

My friend's dad that works for Central just got done not too long ago with his training and went solo. I'm waiting for him to get back so I can talk with him about his experiences and maybe some advice/tips on what to do. I'm starting to learn logs now. Got a book called HOS Handbook - The Complete Guide for CMV Drivers. Been going through that an holy crap, there's a lot of ways to log your hours, but I'm sure after a few weeks of nothing but study, study and study I'll get it down pretty good.

Kinda curious if there's anything else I should know or read to prepare for this adventure? Anyone got some advise/comments (besides making my posts a bit more readable lol).

 

the smart thing to do is get your endorsements. it's not that hard. and you'll have em when you need em. and you WILL need em at some point and time. for whatever job you may be wanting down the road. having your endorsements opens the possibilities of other kinds of work for you. not having them severely limits you.

why make more trips to the dmv then necessary. do it with one stop.

as for the hazmat. it's not an easy thing to obtain, takes upwards of 2 months, and cost's close to $150 by the time you've passed. and yes it pays better. as there's more work involved in transporting a load. just not with central. but that's the only endorsement i wouldn't worry about right away. the others i would get.

 

I agree with snow. If you can/want the other endorsements get them when you get your cdl. It will be harder later to get to the dmv, do you really want to spend your hometime sitting at the dmv? Sounds like you are prepairing well. A lot of the stuff you are reading will become much clearer once you're out there doing it.

 

Well, went in at 8:40 this morning (giving the ladies there enough time to wake up and not be so crabby), finished my general, combo and air brakes written tests with flying colors and was out the door with my learners permit by 9 A.M. Seems like studying hard was the thing to do. I would rather do all the endorsements except hazmat now because Idaho charges $14.00 everytime you add an endorsement to your CDL after you have it. So, right now it's only $3 per test. Only restriction I will have is passenger as Idaho requires you test in a passenger bus as well as a tractor-trailer if you don't want restrictions and that's $70 a pop and right now, I won't need passenger endorsement.

 

passenger you won't need unless you plan on driving a bus in the future sometime.

the haz is something you won't be needing anytime soon. is a real pain and expensive to get. so that one can hold off.

the other two are a big advantage. i woulda gotten those. tanks and doubles. and if i remember right. the test was easy quick.

 

Was to gotten a call today with my bus ticket confermation number and did not get it. Should I be worried????

 

Check your email. They should have sent you an itenary. Print that up and take it to grayhound. If there is no number that is ok central has an account and the desk clerk can print you up a ticket. That happened to me, but I was picked up after hours so there was no clerk to print me a ticket. The driver still let me on and told me to get a ticket in Boise. Showed them the papers and they handed me a ticket. Central doea a lot of business with them they know there good for it as long as you are going to a terminal. Ask for a ticket to Miami and that might raise some eyebrows.

 

Checked the email and nothing there. Last talked with recruiter on wednesday and she mentioned she would call today (friday) if the bus info. Record and background is clean as it can be so I know its nothing they just found out. Hopefully just an oversight and I will hear something soon.
They did send a bus schedule to me a couple weeks back from my state to Utah, so I know the times and schedule. Just need to get it 100% confirmed.

Miami huh.................... :0)